Within the Shadows
by XMemeto.MoriX
Summary: JoJo's Dad, Ned, was killed and he could be next to fall. But why? What has the gray and black Who done that someone would want him dead and who? Bad summary, good story. Check it out, please!
1. Goodbye

**A/N: I have hit a dry spell of ideas. That is until this idea was born! Seeing I'm in need of inspiration, I sprang up and started to write once I had an idea. BTW, this has nothing to do with my other ****Horton Hears a Who**** fanfic, which means Skylar, Victor, Taylor, or Watchers doesn't exist. JoJo is on his freakin' own to fend for himself (sorry, JoJo). (If you have no idea what I'm talking about check out other my story, 'Horton Hears a Who: The Watchers after you read this.) Hope you enjoy this.**

Disclaimer: I don't freakin' own Horton Hears a Who or any of there characters including JoJo (sniffles). All I own is my own plot, at the moment.  
  
_**Ding!**_

_He's gone.  
_  
_**Dong**_!

_He really is gone. My hero_.

_**Ding!**_

_Why the hell did this happen?_

_**Dong!**_

Blue confetti flew from tops of roofs as a coffin was being carried by men dressed in black out of an old church. The church bells played a sad, slow melody, but were muffled by the crowd's yells and chants.

"We will never forget!"

"Whoville's finest."

"Mayor Ned McDodd!"

Everyone wore black as a tradition but had blue ribbons wrapped around their arms to honor him. Since blue was his favorite color. All of Whoville turned out to see his casket one last time before it was buried into the ground forever. News of his death spread quickly around Whoville, especially since most of them was there when he was killed, murdered, or ,what a lot of Whos say, assassinated. No warnings, just point blank. The images of that fateful day still replay in JoJo's head. He could still hear the sounds as clear as a bell, the images so accurate that it seemed it just happened. The screams of freaked out citizens, the ear-piercing sirens of the police and ambulance, and the ringing of the gunshot kept playing in his head. A shiver went up and down his spine just thinking of that.

No one would know why someone would kill the beloved mayor. The police would blame rebellion groups, but the thing is there aren't any. Since this was the town of 'where nothing goes wrong', the recent events have scared the shit out of everyone. Many suspects have been brought into questioning, but all of them were innocent. So the killer was still out there, blending into the crowd. The whole McDodd family followed the blue float that carried the coffin to the graveyard. This day wasn't just for mourning the death of a loved mayor, but also a celebration of his life. The ground was wet from the recent sprinkle of rain, which the confetti was being mixed into. The rain tied everything together; it made the atmosphere seem sadder than it really was. For 16-year old JoJo, everything felt as if everything was slowing like every second was slower than the other. The falling confetti fell as if was magically put in slow-motion. The cold, chilly wind blew in long, slow intervals. The cheering and crying crowed seemed to slow as well. Everything was also slowly falling apart. He was soon brought back to the small speck by the sound of crying that came from his dad's mom.

JoJo was walking along side his mom, who had a black see-through veil hat and a black dress. She had no idea this day would be this soon, Sally was in shock for a couple of days. He wouldn't blame her, since she stood right next to him when he was shot and Ned did die in her arms. JoJo wondered just how traumatized she was. Many of his family looked down to the ground, they couldn't stand to see the coffin at the moment. But JoJo, Sally, and a couple of the oldest sisters could stop staring at said object, no matter how much they wanted to. People threw flowers, especially blue ones and pink clovers to remember the Horton Incident. Before they knew it, they were nearing the cemetery. JoJo's grandfather placed his hand on the young boy's shoulder, which helped him from shaking from the cold and fear. He was now the man of the house. Just the word, leadership made JoJo nervous. The McDodds quickly went to their seat in the front as everyone else found a seat.

"We are gathered here to bury one of the greatest mayor Whoville has ever seen.", the priest said as everyone was seated. JoJo's eyes never left the coffin, no matter how hard he tried to look away. The words of the priest and the word of his family's were in blurs. Everyone said their goodbyes before the casket were lowered to the ground. The immediate family of Ned grabbed a hand full of dirt and tossed it onto his coffin before two men filled up the rest of the hole. A sad melody played at the back of JoJo's head as he stared at his father's grave. The crowd started to disperse after they gave the family their sympathy before headed home. It was a good twenty minutes until it was just JoJo and his family in the cemetery alone.

"Mom, you guys can go ahead.", JoJo whispered, "I need a little time alone." Sally nodded her head and went home with the rest of the family. Once he left alone, he turned away to the head stone. "Well, dad, I guess this is goodbye. I'll try to do you proud when I take your place. I will always love you. G-goodbye, dad. I-I c-can't wait to see y-you in H-heaven.", he stammered out. Tears started to stream down his cheeks as he tossed a pink clover on his grave. JoJo thought maybe saying goodbye would give him closure, but it didn't seem work. He started to walk away and didn't look back. He dug his hands into his pant's pocket and played with the single penny he had in there. He thought finding a penny on the ground was lucky, but the irony of it was that he found it on the morning of his dad's death. He didn't know why he still had it though. He kept his gaze to the floor and didn't look up until he got closer to his house. In front of his house has a crowd of Whos that just stood there like statues.

"What the-?", he muttered. JoJo ran to his house and saw his whole family that attend the funeral. He looked at their faces to see they had a grave expression on, which made his heart skip a beat as the possiblities swarmed in his head. None of them seem to care as he pushed his way to the front to see what has spooked them. He looked toward his mom and saw her face was the most scared of them all. She had covered her mouth with her hands as if to stop a scream from escaping her lips. All of their eyes was still on the blue door. He looked at the blue door and saw a single note nailed to it. The note looked completely harmless, that is until JoJo tore it off the nail to read it better. His mouth hung open and his hands released the small white piece of paper that could end his life right now. The letter slowly made its way to the ground as time seem to stop to a halt. On the paper was three small, but terrifying words someone could ever receive.

"JoJo is next."

A/N: Ooooohhhhh! Suspense! What will happen next?! Only I know! Ok maybe not. Yay or nay? Please be nice and no flames. It seems that I don't really like Ned since in both of my HHaW fanfic something happens to him..... But he is one of my favorite characters. Until next time! Read and Review! Reviews make the world go round! That and Chocolate! Hmmmm. SUGAR RUSH! Ok enough with my craziness.


	2. Suspects

**A/N: before I get started I want to thank those of that have read the first chapter. Also thank you xxSkitten for the review!  
**  
**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Horton Hears a Who**** or its characters. If I did, you would have known. All I own if the plot and my own characters.  
**  
_The letter slowly made its way to the ground as time seem to stop to a halt. On the paper was three small, but terrifying words someone could ever receive._

"JoJo is next."

The family just stood there, silent, still trying to get over the shock and take everything in. It seem like an eternity until someone said anything.

"Everyone! Get your ass inside the house and lock all the windows and close the blinds! Make sure no one can see inside the damn house!", Sally yelled to break the silence. Everyone snapped out their trance and ran inside the house. Sally was never the one to curse, but in situations like these she sometimes can't control what leaves her mouth. The whole family made sure all the windows were lock and the blinds were shut to a point that no light could come in. Sally dragged the still dazed JoJo inside the house. She threw him onto the couch and turned his head to face her.

"JoJo, listen to me. Stay here in the living room until I say otherwise, got it?", she said with clear panic in her voice. He nodded a yes and continued to stare into space as panic started to set in place. As she was about to leave, her sister, Marsha, bumped into her.

"You don't think it was him, do you?", Marsha asked.

"It can't be. They took him away. He's suppose to stay in there, away from us.", she whispered and proceeded to the kitchen. Her sister followed closely on her trail.

"He could have gotten out. Think of it Ned is gone, the man he hated the most. Now a note came saying JoJo is practically marked for death. The one he swore he would kill along with Ned.", she said, trying to keep up with Sally's quickening pace. Once they got to the kitchen, the two sisters notice their other sisters were there along with her mom and brother-in-laws.

"I suggest you call the insane asylum, to make sure he's still in the crazy house.", Sally's sister, Isabel, said. She nodded in agreement when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"You want me to do it for you sweetie", her mom asked. She shook her head and proceeded to the phone.

"I need to hear it for myself.", she said, "I won't be able to believe it if I hear it from anyone else." She took the phone to the bedroom for more privacy. Her hand shook as she dialed the number for the Whoville insane asylum and brought the phone to her ear. After a couple of rings, someone finally picked up the phone.

"Hello, you have reached the Whoville Insane Asylum. Officer Char speaking. Who is speaking?"

"Sally McDodd."

"Oh! Ms. McDodd, how may I help you?"

"You damn well know how you can help me. Is he out or not?" There was chilling silence as Sally awaited his answer.

"Yes.", he whispered. She almost dropped the phone once that word left his lips. Her loose grip tightened, almost to a point of breaking the phone.

"Why the hell did you let him out? He's supposed to stay there and rot!"

"We didn't let him out, ma'am. He escaped."

"H-how is that possible!? Nobody has ever broken out of the insane asylum before!"

"We know. We have looked around the cell and saw everything perfectly fine. No holes, no nothing. We think it was an inside job. A double agent probably let him out."

"When did this happen?"

"A couple of days before Mayor Ned McDodd was killed."

"And I was never told this because…..?", her voice trailed off.

"We thought we could find him before anything happen."

"Well, I guess its to late for that!", she said sarcastically, "Just call me, if you find anything else. Can you at least do that before someone else gets killed?"

"Will do, ma'am." Once she hung up the phone, she dropped it and collapsed on her bed. She threw her hands onto her face to cover her eyes as she tried to regain control of her thoughts.

_Back with JoJo_

JoJo sat on the long couch, waiting news or anything that can tell him what the hell is going on. His blank stare never let the floor as he tried to make sense of everything that just happened. After five minutes, someone ran to the living room and tried to enter but instead slid on the hard wood floor further down the hall. Then a loud crash followed which broke his train of thought. His gaze went straight to the sound, which came from the hallway outside the living room.

"Ow! Son of a bitch!", a girl's voice yelled in a cockney accent. JoJo easily knew it was her cousin, Tabby. Soon she showed at the entrance along with another one of his cousin, Zeke. Tabby still wore her black dress that ended at her knees with black and white strip knee-high socks still on and the blue ribbon was now tied up her black hair with green highlights. Zeke wore the same black suit as JoJo with a blue tie just without the jacket. He had brown hair and blue eyes, while she had green eyes. They walked up to JoJo and sat down next to him, one on each side. They sat in silence until someone spoke up.

"Do you have any idea who would want you dead?", Zeke asked.

"No idea.", JoJo responded, sounding still in a daze.

"What about that Vonfrood fellow? Don't he and your dad fight a lot? He could have done it."

"But what about JoJo? Why would he want him dead?", Zeke said.

"JoJo and Vonfrood's son fight a lot, right?! Its like the new generation in the making!", Tabby exclaimed as she broke the serious atmosphere of the room. She then slammed her fist into her hand a little too hard which cause her to wince in pain and shake her hand to numb the pain. The two boys rolled their eyes at her.

"Yo! Biscuits! Whatcha doin'?" Everyone looked toward the voice and saw their cousin, Valerie. She had on a similar dress as Tabby but with longer sleeves. Her blue ribbon was still tried around her arm and her brown hair was still in a bun but a few strands escaped.

"Thinking of suspects who would wanna kill me.", JoJo said.

"Cool! I wanna help." Valerie walked over to couch and plopped down on the arm rest. "So what unlucky bastards have we thought of so far?"

"Vonfrood and his son.", Zeke said.

"Hey, JoJo. I overheard your mom talking to the insane asylum. Do you have any idea why?" He shook his head.

"I kind of have a theory, maybe.", Tabby said as all eyes were on her, "Maybe a psycho escaped and is now after JoJo." They sat in silence as they thought the idea over for a minute.

"Nah.", Everyone, except Tabby, said in unison.

"What? Think about it. It could happen.", she said, defending her idea.

"No, you think about. No one, _repeat no one_, has ever escaped from that place. Its like impossible.", Valerie said.

"They said the same with Alcatraz and looked what happened. Not one_, but three_, escaped. So don't shoot down my idea so fast."

"I guess she's right. Lets kept it on the list.", JoJo said.

"Keep what on the list?", Sally asked.

"Oh shit!", Valerie yelled in shock as she fell back off the arm rest and landed with a large thud. She got back up and poked her over the arm rest. She notice that her aunt stood there with her arms crossed and her eyebrow cocked up, waiting for her to say something.

She smiled sheepishly and said, "I mean shoot?" Valerie stood up straight and sat next to Tabby.

"Don't worry I won't tell your mom about that slip.", Sally said as she walked up to the four teens.

"Thanks Aunt Sal! You know you were always my favorite!", she said as she gave Sally a bear hug.

"I thought Isabel was your favorite.", Zeke said, leaning back on the couch.

"Her too."

"So what were you guys doing before I came?", Sally asked as she sat on the coffee table that was in front of the couch.

"Thinking of suspects who would wanna whack off JoJo.", Tabby said.

"Well, who have you thought of so far?"

"Vonfrood and his son, could be behind this.", Zeke said.

"And there's Tabby's crazy theory.", Valerie said, pointing over to her cousin.

"Its not crazy.", Tabby said defending her idea again, "Remember! Alcatraz!"

"Tell me what it is. It might not be.", Sally said.

"Well, Val heard you on the phone with the insane asylum, so maybe a psycho escaped and is now after JoJo."

"Well, that's the closest you're going to get."

"Huh?", everyone said in unison.

"Come with me.", she said as she started for the hallway, "You are all old enough to know, 'specially you JoJo." She led the teens to her bedroom and motions them to sit anyway. Tabby and JoJo sat on the floor near the bed. Zeke leaned on a dresser at the corner of the room, while Valerie sat Indian Style on the bed, leaning on the head board. Sally sat on the edge on the bed and stared at the floor. Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to tell them what is going on. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"How am I going to tell JoJo without him feeling I'm dumping this on him all at once?", Sally thought to herself. She had to tell them soon, she will never know when he will strike next.

"So?", JoJo said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence, "Whatcha wanna tell us Mom?"

"Well, JoJo, I don't really know how to tell you this.", Sally said.

"Just tell me. It can't be that bad.", he said, smiling at his mom.

"Ok then. JoJo, Ned really wasn't your dad. Your real father name is Kevin Barker."

**A/N: Moohahahahahaha! Ok I've decided to save the explanation for the next chapter! I know I'm evil. XP I'm going to post up the next chapter later today or something, so you people that are curious won't suffer long. Until next time! Read and review! Reviews=Love! Or hate.... depends what you leave. XD**


	3. Kevin Barker

**A/N: Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I don't own **Horton Hears a Who**** or any of its characters. Damn. All I own are my own characters and my own plot. Yay!  
**  
_"Ok, then. __JoJo__, Ned really wasn't your father. Your real father's name is Kevin Barker."  
_  
"W-what? You're kidding me, right?", JoJo said in disbelief. Everyone, but Sally, had their mouth open in disbelief. She shook her head to say no.

"How did this happen?", Valerie muttered to no one in particular.

"Well, Ned and I never went out. We were just best friends. In high school, I was going out with Kevin Barker."

_xX-Flashback-Xx_

A sixteen year old Sally was sitting on a park bench, reading a book. She placed the book next to her, so she could put her hair up. Just then a sixteen year old boy came up behind her and covered her eyes with his hand. She took his hands away and looked behind her. The boy had black shaggy hair and hazel colored eyes. He wore a green shirt and a black hoodie with blue jeans.

"Hey, beautiful.", he said as he plopped down next to her.

"Hey Kevin", she greeted. He put his arm around her shoulder and looked toward to the left to see a sixteen year old Ned, just with black hair, running toward them.

"Hey took you long enough."

"Hey, that race wasn't fair. I was caught at a stoplight.", Ned said.

"You could have ran across the street. Simple."

"Yeah, and get squished on the pavements."

"Hey if you die, can I have your stuff?"

"Depends. First come, first serve."

"Everywho for themselves!", Sally laughed, followed by her two of her best friends.

xX-Flashback ends-Xx

"We were really good friends. Ned and Kevin were as close as brothers, no one could ever understand how they could be enemies.", Sally continued. "Everything was perfect, but we just had to fuck it up. Pardon my language. We were so damn stupid."

_xX-Flashback-Xx_

Sally sat her couch in the living room waiting for Kevin to arrive. Life was good, really good. Tonight was Prom and also a night for celebrating. Kevin was accepted into the collage of his dreams at Whereville. Ned was also accepted into Who U, where he always wanted to go. And for Sally, she had the best boyfriend, she could ever had. After a few minutes, a knock was heard at the door. Sally got up and went to it. She saw Kevin, leaning on the door frame, Ned and May, a close friend of theirs, standing behind him. Ned and Kevin wore almost the same exact suit just different color ties. May wore a purple knee-length dress with her brown hair in a bun.

"Hey, guys. Let me just tell my parents, I'm leaving.", Sally told her _three friends__._

"Mom! Dad! I'm going now!", she called out.

"Wait! Lets take some pictures first.", her dad said as he ran to the entrance hall. Sally let out a groan, she doesn't really like pictures. After what seem like a hundred pictures later, the four friends started to leave. They piled into the limo, thanks to Ned's parents, and headed to prom. When they arrived they were victims of more flashing from cameras as they walked into the fancy hotel.

"Hey, babe, I'll be right back. I got go do something.", Kevin said after an hour had past since they arrived.

"Oh, ok.", Sally said as he got up from the table and headed for the lobby. Ten minutes after he left a slow song start to play, it also happen to be her favorite song. Couples started to flood the dance floor, while singles watched them. Just then someone tapped her shoulder and she turned around to see.

"Oh, hey Ned. What's up?", Sally asked. Ned stood behind her, looking nervous and gripping his black tie.

"Umm, well I was wonder do you wa-", he started but then sighed. "Do you know were Kevin is."

Sally shrugged and said, "I don't know. He said he had something to do."

"Oh. I was just wondering doyouwanttodance?", he said in one breath.

"What?"

"He's asking if you want to dance.", May said as she was attempting to make a pyramid with forks, "Go on. I know you want to."

"Well you know, it is one of your favorite songs and I don't really want you to sit this one out. That is unless you want to, which is per-", he was cut off when Sally stood up and put her hand up. She then took his arm and walked over to the dance floor. Ned, hesitantly, put his hands on her waist as she put her arms around his neck. They swayed to the beat of the music as they stared at each other's eyes. A shade of pink creped on Ned's cheeks, this caused Sally to blush a deeper shade of pink. Once the song ended, they headed back to the table to see Kevin talking to May.

"Hey guys.", Ned greeted them as they sat down with them. Sally sat next to Kevin, who was emitting a strong smell that she couldn't put her finger on.

"There you guys are.", Kevin said, "Here, I got you a drink, Sal." He pushed a cup to her direction. She picked it up and took a sip. It tasted funny to her; it had the flavor of fruit punch mixed with some unknown taste. They sat talking and drinking for thirty minutes until Sally started to feel dizzy.

"Sally, you ok? You don't look so good.", Kevin said, sounding concern.

"My head is hurting a little bit.", she said.

"Here, come on. I rented a room; you can rest there for awhile, if you want."

"You rented a room?"

"Yeah, just in case we wanted to be alone. Come on." He stood up and held his hand out. She took it and started to walk to the exit, when Kevin turned back to the table. "Don't wait up.", he told Ned and May. Then they disappeared to the lobby.

xX-Flashback ends-Xx  
  
"What happened?", Zeke asked. He had joined JoJo and Tabby on the floor when he was tired of standing up.

"Lets just say I did things I'm not so proud of that night.", Sally answered, still looking at the floor, "A month past and something was off."

_xX-Flashback-Xx_

Sally was pacing back and forth in her bedroom as May was sitting down on her bed. She watched as her friend was practically freaking out in front of her.

"You know pacing like that, won't make time go faster. You pacing is going to make you feel time is going slower.", she finally spoke up, "Once you hear the timer go off, you will find out the truth."

"I guess you're right.", Sally said she sat down next to her friend.

"So what are going to do if, you know?"

"I don't really know, but I refuse to get an abortion or give it up for adoption. I want the baby to know his or her parents."

"You put a lot thought into this, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much. _Ever since__ I woke up and saw him lying down next to me, I keep thinking what I would do in a situation like this."_

_**RIIING!  
**__  
"The moment of truth."_

"Wish me luck." Sally walked back to her bathroom and came back with the test in her hand. Her face looked worried and her eyes were wide.

"So your eggo is preggo, I take it.", May said. Sally slowly nodded her head and threw the test away in the trash. She tore out pieces of paper out of her notebook and threw it on top of it, so no one will see it.

"The pink plus sign is so freakin' unholy." She then dug her head in her pillow as she let out a muffled scream. May rubbed her back to calm her down, which seem to help a little bit.

_**Ding! Dong!  
**__  
The two girls looked towards the bedroom door._

"Oh God. Its him.", Sally whispered.

"Are you going to tell him now?" She nodded and headed for the door with May on her trail. "You want me to stay or I could sneak out the window."

"No. Stay, please." She nodded and went to the living room to give them some privacy. Once she got to the door, she opened it and saw Kevin, with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey baby.", he said as he kissed his forehead. She moved to the side to let him through and he walked in.

"I-I need to tell you something.", she said barely over a whisper.

"Sure what is it? I'm all ears." His eyes began to show worry, expecting to hear the worst.

"Kevin, I took a test."

"Oh. How'd you do?" A smile of relief formed on his face, seeing it was probably something little.

"I guess I failed, depending how you look at it."

"What do you mean?"

"It was a pregnancy test and I came up positive." Kevin's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"Y-you sure? You could be late."

"Its been four days, Kev. I even still have the test, I just took it a few minutes ago. You're going to be a father."

"No I'm not."

"W-what do you mean? Yes you are."

"No! Come with me, we're getting you an appointment!" He grabbed her arm and tried to drag her to the door, but she tried to fight it.

"For what?!"

"For an abortion!" Her eyes grew big and she pulled her arm away.

"No! I'm against abortion, you know that!"

"You know how lives are ruined when a teenager gets pregnant! We are practically throwing our life away for this baby!"

"I don't care! I want to keep it!" Kevin lifted his hand up as if to strike her, she closed her eyes and braced for the impact. After a few intense seconds she heard the door slam, she opened her eyes and saw that her so-called 'perfect' boyfriend was no where to be seen and that she was alone. She fell on her knees and started to cry when May came out. She ran to her side and dropped to her knees and hugged her friend.

"Its going to be ok.", she reassured her.

"I hope so.", Sally said through her tears.

xX-Flashback ends-Xx

"Holy shit.", Valerie whispered.

"After that he kept coming back and begging me to go and abort the pregnancy. And every time he ordered me to, I just told him no. Then a month later, he became perfectly fine with it and he told me he was going to take care of the baby. I was relieved that he changed his mind, or so I thought."

_xX-Flashback-Xx_

Sally and Kevin was sitting on a park bench, hanging out.

"I'm really glad you changed your mind.", Sally said, "You're going to be a great father."

"Thanks. Here I'll go and get us something to eat over there." He pointed over to the convience store just a block down the street, "Anything special you want?"

"Not really, just nothing healthy."

"You sure? You know?" He then pointed to her stomach, a little comfortable talking about it.

"It should be fine."

Five minutes later, Kevin walked back with two cokes and two small bags of chips.

"Here ya go, cutie." He tossed her a bag and handed the bottle.

"I don't know about this. The last time you gave me a drink, I ended like this." She then pointed to her stomach which showed a little bulge.

"Don't worry, I didn't do anything to it this time."

"Well, ok then. I trust you." She opened the bottle with caution, hearing the soda fizz in the bottle, and hesitantly took a sip. Nothing tasted weird about it like last time, so she chugged down more, not realizing how thirsty she was. A minute after she finished the drink, Sally's eyesight started to blur. She saw a creepy smile form on Kevin's face before she blacked out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sally's eyes slowly fluttered open as she tried to figure out her surroundings. She was lying down a somewhat hard bed and in a hospital gown. She saw two men, one young-looking and a middle-age man in a doctor's coat, in front of the bed. She soon realized that they were yelling at each other about something. The room was dimly lit and her eyesight was still a little blurry, so she couldn't really see the face. The voices, now that was a different story. She knew for sure one of the voices belong to Kevin and he sounded pissed off, very pissed off.

"Damn it! You told me just to make an appointment and bring her here! What's the problem, why can't you get on with it already?!"

"Yes I did tell you that, but it doesn't feel right that you brought her unconscious. Now I refuse to do anything without her permission." The younger-looking of the two, who Sally believed was Kevin, grabbed the doctor by the neck and slammed him against the wall.

"Listen hear you piece of shit, do the abortion and I promise you won't get hurt. Don't do it and let's just say, you will regret it."

Abortion? Abortion! Damn how could I be so stupid? He did it again!, she thought to herself.

The doctor gulped down hard and stammered, "Y-yes sir. Right away."

"What the hell is going on?!", Sally yelled, which spooked both of them. Kevin quickly dropped him and tried to look innocent.

"Hey there, _Sleeping Beauty__. Glad you woke up. I brought you to the hos-"_

"Shut up!", Sally yelled, which spooked her more than anyone else, "I'm sick of your lies!" She quickly got up off the bed and inched her way to the door. "I know exactly what you are planning to do! Just stay away from me and the baby!! I hate you!" She then bolted out of the room and of the office, not daring to look back. She had no idea where she would go, but she never slowed down since she had no idea if he was following or not and she didn't want to take a chance. It was as if her legs had a mind of their own as her surroundings became familiar. She knew she wasn't heading home since it was the other direction, so she knew she was heading towards a friend's house. Who's house? She had no clue at this point. She just had to put as much distance between herself and that psycho who used to be her boyfriend. She soon found herself in front of a red and white house. Sally knew exactly whose house she was in front of, just how she was going to explain this to Ned, she also had no clue. She absentmindly knocked on the red door that was soon answered by her friend. She couldn't bring herself to look at him for some reason.

"Oh, hey Sally!", Ned greeted her cheerfully, "Kevin with you or something?" His smile soon faded to a frown when he notice a few tears going down her cheeks. "Are you ok? What's wrong?" Still no answer and he was starting to get worried. "You want to come in and talk about it?" He moved a little bit to give her way. She slowly came in and followed him to the big living room. He started to notice what she was wearing. To his surprise, she was wearing a blue hospital gown.

"Umm, Sal, do you mind me asking, umm, why are you wearing....?" He gestured his hand so she could tell he was talking about her clothes.

"Ned, I'm pregnant with Kevin's baby.", she blurted out. Ned opened his mouth in disbelief and his heart started to sink. Even though she was his best friend's girlfriend, he couldn't help having a huge crush on her. He knew it was against some made up rules, but he couldn't help but fall for her glistening eyes and her winning smile.

"S-since when?", he finally asked once he found his voice again.

"I think for a month or two, maybe.", she answered, very unsure, "But he doesn't want the baby." She started to shake and wrapped her arms around her womb as if to protect it from someone. "He begged me to get an abortion, but I didn't want one. I want to keep it. I don't care if I'm throwing my life away for him or her. I really don't care."

Ned opened his mouth to say something but Sally beat him to it, "Wait there's more. Today I think he drugged my soda and brought me to an abortion clinic. Lucky I woke up before they did anything. Ned, I need you to help me, please. I don't think he'll stop until this baby is gone." A few tears came out before a lot tears streamed out.

"S-sure." He wrapped his arms around her into a hug as he tried to comfort her. "Who knows about the baby already?"

"May, Kevin, my sisters, and now you.", she finally said after she calmed down a little bit.

"What about your parents? They need to know soon, 'spescially with Kevin the way he is now."

"I guess I'll tell them tonight."

"We can do it together. I'll try my best to get a restraining order for you and the baby. That should scare him away. I promise to always protect you and make sure you are safe. I'll even help you raise the baby. I'll treat him or her like my own.", he promised as he held her in a hug while rocking her back and forth.

"Thank you, Ned. I believe you.", Sally said as she gave him a quick peck on the lips before she broke out in sobs again in his arms, leaving Ned blushing like crazy.

xX-Flashback ends-Xx  
  
"How'd your parents take the big shocker?", Tabby asked.

"They were shock, then mad, but in the end they were ok with it and respected our decision.", Sally said, "A lot of people respected your uncle after that for helping me. Kevin was no where to be found anywhere in Whoville, so many thought he probably fled. A couple of months later, the baby was born. That was you JoJo." She looked straight at her son who wore the same blank, unemotional face the time she told him the story. "A lot of Whos thought it was Ned's baby, not Kevin's. 'Specially since me and him were getting pretty close. A month after you were born, we got married so you could have a normal life as much as possible. He also stayed true to his promise and treated you like his own son. Everything was perfect again for once. That is until one night. It was a few months after you were born."

_xX-Flashback-Xx_

Sally held small baby JoJo in her arms, trying to get him to sleep. She hummed him a small melody to get him to calm down. It was nearing midnight and he had woken up. They had to admit, the little baby had strong lungs which made up for his small stature. He was born pre-mature and the doctors didn't think he would survive, but he proved them wrong. Sally moved in with Ned shortly after the wedding on her choice. He soon got an apartment for now until they want to get a bigger house.

Soon she notices his breathing became even and saw JoJo's eyes closed. She gently laid him into his crib and silently left the room. On her way back to her bedroom, she heard a small crash coming from the living room.

"Ned? Is that you?", she called out. No answer. Her heart thumped against her chest as she ran to the bedroom. She walked in and saw Ned sleeping soundly on the bed. She ran up to him and started to shake him.

"Ned! Wake up!", she whispered. He slowly opened his eyes and saw her face was frantic.

"What is it?", he asked, clearly getting worried, as he sat up.

"I think someone is in the living room."

"I'll go and check it out." He quickly got off the bed with Sally on his trail. "Sally go stay with JoJo."

"No, I'm not leaving you."

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't worry, I won't. Lets face it, you're stuck with me." He gave up, knowing its impossible to win an argument against Sally when she makes up her mind. They quietly entered the small living room to see if anyone was in there. They saw nothing out of the ordinary and turned around back to their bedroom.

"Hey, there Sally. Remember me?" Sally stood there still with fear. She knows that voice from anywhere, Kevin.

"Oh no.", she whispered under her breath. A figure step forward into the moonlight that came from outside. Ned stepped in front of her, not wanting him near her again.

"Looks like you do remember me. How you been?", Kevin asked as he stepped closer. The two stepped back, trying to keep the same distance between them.

"Get the hell out of this house.", Ned said.

"Awe, come on Neddy. Don't be like this; I just want to see MY son. Now we can do this easy way or hard way. Take your pick." He didn't move, still trying to act like a wall between Kevin and Sally.

"So I guess it's the hard way." Kevin lunged forward and tackled Ned to the floor. Sally moved out of the way and watched in horror. She then saw something glistening in his back pocket. She realized what he was planning to do tonight once she figured out it was a pocket knife. He was going to kill her and JoJo, probably Ned too. Sally looked around the room frantically looking for something to knock him out with. Her eyes soon fell on a blue vase in the corner of the room. She ran towards it and grabbed it. She looked towards the two and found Ned, probably unconscious, on the floor and Kevin walking towards her. He reached into his back pocket, but before he could even touch the pocket knife Sally smashed the vase on his head which caused him to pass out. She stared at the unconscious body before she let out a sigh of relief. She ran over to Ned and tried to shake him awake.

"Ned! Wake up, please! Whatever you do don't go into the light!", she yelled. His eyes slowly opened and let out a painful groan.

"Call the police.", he said as the past events came back into his head. She nodded and ran to the kitchen, where the home phone was. She dialed 911 and heard two rings before someone picked out.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"My ex-boyfriend tried to attack us. He's unconscious now, but I think he was planning to kill us tonight. Please send help, I don't know when he's going to wake up."

"Who's 'we', ma'am."

"Um, my husband, who is starting to regain consciousness, me, and my baby son who is upstairs sleeping."

"When did this happen?"

"Just a few minutes ago!", she said, getting a little frustrated its taking to long, "Now please send help, he had a knife. I have no idea what else his armed with."

"Ok, we have tracked your phone call and help is on the way."

"Thank you." Sally hung up the phone and ran to JoJo's room, where she found him crying. She picked him up and started to bounce him up and down. She walked back to the living room, to find Ned sitting up on the floor. She walked over to him and checked his head for anything. He had a bruise forming near his left eyes and his head bleeding a little.

"Oh God, Ned are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?" He smiled as he touched his head. His finger felt a warm liquid near his forehead and drew it back to see what it is. It was bloody. Usually this would make him faint, but he toughen up since his son was looking at him. He casually wiped the blood away and tried to stand up, but quickly sat back down. "Where is he?", he asked.

"Over there he's knocked out. The police should be here soon."

Ding! Dong!

"Or now." Sally got up off the floor and headed to the door, which revealed two police officers.

"Evening, ma'am. So where is he?"

"Over there." Sally pointed to behind the couch as the men walked over to said direction. Outside she notice, one ambulance and a small crowd gathered around to see what was going on. After someone checked over Ned, who was hurt the most, and Kevin, the police handcuffed him and started to take him away.

"Wait."

Kevin and the policemen looked towards Sally.

"Before you take him away, can I ask him a question?", she asked. The police nodded a yes.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Why do you want to get rid of your own son?"

"I was taught to take care of my mistakes. I'm following that saying by doing what I believe is right. That little baby of yours is going to die, where ever he is, I will find him." JoJo was in Ned's protective arms, sucking on his thumb and completely oblivious to what is happening.

"And Ned, learn to watch your back and sleep with your eyes open 'cause you're also on my list. You are going to pay for taking away my girl." That's when the police yanked him away and pulled him towards the door.

xX-Flashback ends-Xx  
  
"That's the last time I ever saw that bastard and I never thought I would ever see him again. He saw you as a mistake, JoJo, but no matter what I and your father will never see you the way Kevin saw you. Everyone sees you as a blessing, and I totally agree.", Sally said as she finished the story, "A few months after that, they moved him from the prison to the local insane asylum due to very bad homicidal thoughts. We even heard when he tried to escape, he attack prison mates and guards. We were relieved to know they moved him, since they said the asylum was impossible to escape. And yet he did it."

"Bloody hell.", Tabby muttered under her breath, "Haven't the police tried looking for him?"

"I think so, but they been searching since a week and a half ago. He is very good at hiding."

"Why didn't you guys ever tell me this?", JoJo asked, hinted anger in his voice, "I believe before this, I had a right to know."

"We didn't want you to worry. Everyone thought we would never see him again. We wanted you to have as much as a normal life as possible."

"I guess it's too late for that."

"What are we going to do?", Valerie asked.

"JoJo could flee Whoville.", Zeke suggested.

"No, Kevin will just find him.", Sally said as she stood up and walked to the window, "Its not safe here. No where on the speck is safe for him."

"So we need JoJo to flee the speck?", Tabby asked spectically, "How in the world are we going to do that?" Everyone pondered the thought for awhile until JoJo and Sally face lit up. Once they saw each other's faces they knew they had the same idea.

"Dr. Larue.", they said at the same time.

"Dr. Lawho?", Valerie asked. Sally and her son headed for the door with the three teens on the tail.

"Wait. We're going out?", Zeke asked.

"Not with JoJo out in the open. 'Specially with Kevin out there.", Tabby said. They pondered for a while, trying to think of a way to hide him without making it look obvious. Soon a big grin formed on the two teenage girls' faces as they looked at each other.

"We have an idea.", they said in unison. JoJo gulped down hard, not really liking the creepy grins on his cousins' face.

"Lets get to work.", Valerie said as she walked closer the black and gray Who.

**A/N: I have read my character's mind and Valerie's idea is twisted but funny. I'll decide if I should go with that or not. It will depend on my mood when I write the next chapter. Well, I hope this was good. Oh, I want to apologize if Sally is out of character. I'll improve on that. Until next time! Read and Reviews!**


	4. Leaving

**A/N: Ok, I'm going to apologize for the little make-over my character gave JoJo. Just remember when you read, if he didn't have it he could get shoot by Kevin since he is out in the open. So beware JoJo fangirls!! You have been warned! Also thank you to my friend, Kierra (keykey0414), for helping me with the idea of his make-over. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Horton Hears a Who or the characters. I do own my own characters and my plot. DON'T SUE ME!! I am broke, I spent all my money on candy and at hot topic. (Random.....) **

_"Lets get to work.", Valerie said as she walked closer to the black and gray Who. _

~*~*~*~*~*One Hour later~*~*~*~*~*

"JoJo, come on out. Its not that bad.", Tabby said from inside the hallway. Her, Valerie, and Zeke waited outside the bathroom for JoJo.

"Says you! You're a girl! Hell, I'm probably wearing your make-up.", he responded.

"If you don't come out we're coming in after you.", Valerie threatened. They waited for a response and all they got was silence. "Do you guys see any key around here?"

The door knob started to turn and JoJo slowly walked out. Everyone was on the verge of laughing as they saw the sight of their cousin. The make-over that the two girl gave him resulted in an embarrassing outcome on JoJo's part. He was forced into a baby blue flower-print dress with spaghetti straps. His black and gray strips was dyed to light blue and yellow. Valerie insisted they also dye his hair blonde, but with convincing from Tabby, they decided on using a wig instead. With shear luck they found a long blonde one hidden in the attic from a old Halloween costume. After Valerie tied him to a chair, Tabby put blush on his checks, mascara, eyeliner, and light pink lip gloss. The whole works.

"See, now was that so bad?", Valerie asked, once she was sure she wasn't going to laugh.

JoJo just glared at the two and said, "What do you think?" She walked up and examined her and her cousins' work.

"We did a pretty good job. I can't believe you used your own make-up on him, Tabs."

"Well, not all of it. I found the eyeliner near JoJo's door.", Tabby said as she handed the item to her. "This says guyliner, no scratch that, this says _GAY_liner." She then looked suspiciously at JoJo, remembering where her cousin found the 'gayliner'.

"I swear I'm holding it for a friend!", he said defensively.

"Suuuuure. Come on we better get going. We need to get Aunt Sally.", Zeke said, "Just where is she?" "I saw her in the living room last.", Tabby said, pointing her thumb down the hall. The three teens practically had to drag. JoJo towards the living room. "Come on, JoJo, or should I say Johanna.", Tabby laughed, which received her a fierce glare from him, "Don't look at me like that. Once we get you somewhere safe, you can take off the dress and start looking like a dude again. You can even burn the it."

"Hell, we can even help!", Valerie said as they neared the entrance of the living room. "And the color comes off with water, so you can wash it when we get there." When they arrived at the living room they found most of the family in there with Sally, who is trying to calm them down.

"Don't worry the situation is being handled. There is no need to-", she cut off when she notice everyone staring behind her. She turned around to see and stared at the four teens in disbelief, having a good idea who is the blonde.

"Who's your friend?", Uncle Max asked as he motioned his hand to JoJo.

"Everyone, this is Johanna.", Tabby introduced.

"You all know him as JoJo.", Zeke added. Everyone's eyes widen in surprise, even some were soon about to crack up. They waited a few seconds until someone said something.

"Umm, is there something your trying to tell us?", Uncle Michael asked.

"No, I need to wear this as a disguise.", JoJo answered.

"Ok then, lets go now.", Sally said and lead the four teens out the door. "Wait. We need to add the final touches.", Valerie said and walked back into her guest room. She soon came back with two small balloons and a pair of high heel shoes. JoJo's eyes widen at the sight of the items.

"I understand the shoes but what's with the balloons?", Tabby asked. "You'll see. Put on JoJo the shoes and open up your dress real quick."

"Oh, no.", he said, started to backing away.

"Oh, yes." She stuffed the balloons into his dress while forcing his feet into the high heels. Finally they left the house. Sally walked in front of JoJo, Valerie and Tabby walked beside him, while Zeke walked behind.

"You girls are so dead.", JoJo whispered.

"Hey its was either this or getting shot. Take your pick.", Tabby said.

"True. Remind again why I couldn't just wear a hat?"

"That's what he will be expecting. He won't be looking for a girl."

"And it wouldn't have been as fun.", Valerie added, "Also if we lug you in a big sack, that will stand out. That is unless it was Christmas and we are dressed as Santa."

"Hey guys, before we head to Who U, we need to stop somewhere else.", Sally said and started for City Hall.

"Why are we going here?"

"Well we need to tell the host of a few extra guest coming." The city hall was very empty and quiet, except the footsteps of the group of five that echoing in the hall. "Get inside." One at a time, everyone stepped into the tube that led Whos to the mayor's office. Once everyone arrive, they proceeded into the office and Sally went straight to the horn that was used to project Horton's voice.

"Horton! Psst, you there?!", she yelled through the horn. They waited for a minute until they heard rustling leaves. "Hello?" The voice was no other than Horton's.

"Hey, Horton."

"Hey there Sally! Where's the mayor?"

"Well that's a long story, but the bottom line is JoJo needs to go there, in Nool. He'll explain that later. So can he go there, please?"

"Sure. I'll keep a look out for him."

"Well technically he'll be looking for a girl.", Tabby whispered to Valerie.

"Thanks." Sally walked back into office with the four teens trailing behind her. She made her way to the brown desk and pulled out a silver pistol out of one of the drawer.

"What the fuck are going to do with that Aunt Sal?", Valerie asked as she took a step back.

"Killing us won't solve any problem. We are sorry for turning your son in a cross dresser.", Tabby said. "Don't worry, I understand. This is one of the best disguise I've seen. The real reason I brought this out is because you guys might need it.", Sally said as she gave it to JoJo, along with a tin full of bullets. He put them in his gray backpack he had brought along. "Come on, we need to get to Dr. Larue now." They walked out of the office and ran to Who U. They made their way to Dr. Larue's lab and found her mixing chemicals together in a beaker. She looked up once she heard the door closed.

"Oh Mrs. McDodd. How may I be of assistance?", she asked pushing her experiment to the side. "I hear you've been trying to make a teleporting device.", Sally said walking up to her lab table. "Actually, I have. It can transport any Who to any city on the speck."

"Is it possible for it to send a Who outside of the speck, like into Horton's world."

"Hmmm, it will take an hour to modify the device, but it is possible. It might be faster if my assistant shows up. She also knows how to make one." Just then a girl with long red hair in a ponytail and a lab coat walked in while reading a clipboard came in.

"Speak of the devil.", Sally muttered.

"Dr. Larue, the test results came in. Would you like to see them?", she asked. She looked up from the clipboard and a smile grew once she saw Sally. "Oh my God, Sally?! I haven't seen you in years!"

She ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Its good to see you too, May."

"Whatcha doing here?"

"We need to get JoJo out of here, so Dr. Larue is going to make a transporting device that can take him to Nool." "Its Kevin isn't? He is after JoJo, right?" She nodded her head as her friend looked behind her. She saw three girls and one guy she was sure that was not JoJo. "So where is he?"

"I think you mean her.", Tabby corrected. May cocked her head to the side, which she does when she is confused. Valerie pulled off JoJo's blonde wig to reveal his normal black hair. "Its a wig, see?"

"Ooooookay then. I guess we need to get to work." Valerie placed the wig back on his head as they went to the lab table. Dr. Larue took out a couple of blueprints from under the table and laid them on the table.

"Lets get start."

*~*~*~*~*~*One hour later*~*~*~*~*~

"And one more turn...... Its done!", Dr. Larue exclaimed. The four cousins were sitting on the floor in one of the corner of the room. When they heard the sudden outburst from the scientist, they looked up and went towards her. On the lab table were the blue prints a small remote-looking device. On the remote with a red dial that can point to four different selections and a gray button. On the top of the remote is a black antenna.

"How does it work?", JoJo asked.

"Glad you asked. Its quite simply, really. All you have to do is set the dial to where you want to go, aim the antenna to what you want to transport, and then press the gray button. That's it.", Dr. Larue explained. She than handed it over to JoJo after setting the dial to their destination. "You're all set to go."

"Wish me luck."

"Wait.", Tabby said. Everyone looked towards her, "Look, I'm not letting you face a mad criminal by yourself."

"Neither am I.", Valerie said.

"Same here.", Zeke added

"Look, I need to do this. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me.", JoJo said and started to point the device to himself.

"We're cousins. We stick together.", Tabby said as she walked up to him.

"Tabs right. Lets face it, once we met each other for the first time, we're stuck like glue.", Valerie said as she made her way next to Tabby. JoJo looked down to his arm and saw Tabby locking her arms with him. He then look at his other cousins and saw them lock arms with each other.

"Try to squirm, I'll bite you.", Tabby threatened.

"Go on, press the button already.", Valerie said.

"I guess I have no choice. To Nool!", JoJo said as he pointed the device to the small group and pressed the button. Zap! Sally, May, and Dr. Larue shielded their eyes from the bright light. When they looked back the four teens were gone. Sally started to have second thoughts about this now that he was gone. They saw this and walked up behind her.

"Its going to be fine.", the scientist assured her, "I need to check up on another experiment, so I'll be right back." Dr. Larue left the room and left the two friends to talk to themselves.

"Yeah, Dr. Larue's experiments work 95% of the time.", May added.

"What happened to the other 5%?"

"This device hasn't been tested out yet."

"So, my son, nieces, and nephew are your test subjects!", Sally said with anger and worry lingering in her voice.

"Kind of, I guess. Don't worry. Everything will be fine.", May said.

"Knock, knock!", a man's voice said. The door opened up and slammed against the wall. A man walked in with a straight jacket on but his arms were free and he had on pants that had black and white strips. His shoes were stained with mud and his black hair was a mess. His eyes were bloodshot with heavy bags underneath. He turned back to the door to lock it. "Dad's home!", he exclaimed happily, "Don't you girls remember me?" They stared at him with a confused expression on. They were for sure never seen this man before. The man's smile disappeared to a disappointed look. "Come on Sally, think long and hard.", he said as he started to approach her.

"H-how do you know my name?", she asked.

"Sally, how could you forget me? Your own boyfriend. Remember prom night?"

"No. Y-you can't be. Kevin?"

"That's right doll face! Here I am in the flesh." He then grab Sally by the neck and slammed her on to the wall. "So where is my son?"

"I can honestly tell you we have no idea where he is.", May spoke up. He turned around to face her as he dropped Sally to the floor.

"May Mosely, its good to see you again. Its been, what,17 years? You look very different."

"Yeah, not seeing someone that long does tend to do that.", she said sarcastically. He started to look around his surrounded, trying to see if the person he was looking for was hiding.

"I never thought I'd see you in a place like this. You weren't the brightest light bulb of the bunch." He made his way to the closet and opened it to only find nothing.

"After you got Sally knocked up, I decided to go into the medical field. Working as Dr. Larue's assistant is a side job." Kevin walked over to the table as she was talking and notice a couple of blue prints for a transporter on the table. He walked back over to May and grabbed her neck and slammed her against the wall.

"Now tell me exactly where is my son?!"

"Never!" He tightened his grip around her neck, which made her wheeze.

"He's in the Jungle of Nool!", Sally blurted out. She could stand the sight of seeing her friend hurt. He reached in his back pocket and pulled out a Swiss army knife and held it to her throat.

"I'm only going to let you go, if you promise me to build me a transporter that brings me to him." May was about to shake her head to say no, but Sally answered for her.

"She'll do it, just let her go." Kevin turned to face her and a smile formed on his face.

"Good you see this my way, if you girls try to pull anything. This wont turn out happy, Got it?!", he said never moving the knife away her neck. May took this opportunity to kick him in the groin. He let her drop to the floor as he went down in agonizing pain. She then made her way to the lab table.

"Sadly, lets get started."

**A/N: And I'll end it there. And I again apologize for JoJo crossdressing. This will probably be the only time I'll have a character cross dress. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks to those of you that review. I give you a virtual hug. Also I'm starting school soon, so I'm not very sure when the is the next time I'm updating. So keep looking out for it. Until Next time! Read and Review! And please no flames, flames are the things that come out of my friend's flamethrower.**


	5. Remembering

**A/N: Enjoy Chapter 5! No crossdressing here! I swear!****Horton Hears a Who**** or their characters. I only own my plot and my characters, hence the word 'my'.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any of its characters. All I own is my own plot and my characters, hence the word 'my'

"Woah!", the four teens yelped as a bright light engulfed them whole. They shut their eyes in an attempt to not go blind. Once they opened them, their surroundings turned into a luscious colorful jungle and not the depressing lab room. JoJo put the transporter into his backpack for safe keeping.

"Ok now that we are here.", Valerie said, "Tabby hand me your knife." She held out her hand. Tabby pulled out a silver pocket knife from a secret back pocket.

"Why do you have a knife, Tabby?", Zeke asked.

"Have you seen the news? I'm trying to make sure I don't raped, mugged, or killed.", she answered.

"Point taken."

"Ok, JoJo hold still and you won't get hurt.", Valerie said walked up to him.

"Wait! What the hell are you going to do with that?", JoJo asked. Before he could back away, Valerie stabbed the balloons with a loud pop.

"Now you can go and jump into the river and we can go burn the dress." She turned around to see Tabby and Zeke collecting firewood for the fire. A smile formed on his face, glad that he can finally get out of the dress. He ran behind a bush and slipped out of the dress. He ran to a near-by river.

"CANNONBALL!!", JoJo yelled as he jumped into the river. A little water splashed his cousins that were sitting near the riverside. The color dye from his fur mixed with the clear water and flowed down with the current. The light blue and yellow strips turned back to his normal black and gray ones. "It feels good to look like a dude again!", he exclaimed happily as he swam around. The other three Whos gathered around the fire. Tabby threw the dress in the fire that grew once the dress was thrown in. Valerie then threw the blonde wig in afterwards.

"Burn, motherfucker, burn!!!!", Valerie yelled in delight.

"I wonder about you sometimes.", Tabby said.

"Hehehehehehehe." JoJo got out and walked over to his cousins to watch the bonfire. He shook his body to dry his fur and got everyone else a little wet by accident. Instead of his hair going back to normal it turn him to look like a puffball. They saw it and was about to crack up at the sight.

"Don't say a word.", JoJo threatened.

"Ok, we won't say anything puffball.", Tabby laughed, "We'll think it, but we won't say it." He shook his body again and his fur went back to normal.

"You guys suck."

"We know.", Zeke said.

"Who are you?" The group of four looked towards the voice and saw a small purple Kangaroo.

"Well, I'm JoJo."

"Zeke."

"Tabby."

"Valerie."

"My name's-". The purple kangaroo was cut off by a shrill voice.

"RUDY!"

"Yeah that." JoJo knew that voice. It belongs to the kangaroo that tried to destroy Whoville. Soon an older purple kangaroo showed up near Rudy.

"Rudy! Don't do that, you near scared me half to death! I don't think I should have let you out of the ponch.", she yelled with panic in her voice. She then realized that it wasn't just her and her son there. "Hello. Who are you?", she asked to the teens.

"Well, we are from the speck.", JoJo said, hoping she still remember. Her eyes widened once she remembered it. Before she could say anything, a new voice beat her to it.

"JOJO! Are you here?" Another voice he could recognize from anywhere. Soon Horton popped up next to the Sour Kangaroo.

"Hey Horton.", JoJo said.

"JoJo? Is that you?", he asked

"In the flesh. This is Valerie, Zeke, and Tabby. They're my cousins.", he said as he pointed to each one when he said their name.

"Nice to meet you all. Now JoJo, I won't be able to help you if I don't really know what's going on. Why did your mom say you needed to come to Nool? Isn't Whoville safe?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

"I'm listening. I'm not in a rush, too.", he answered and sat down.

"So am I.", Kangaroo said sitting down on a near by stump.

"Well, it happened just a week ago. An unknown scientist built a new invention and was going unveil it. Little did we know it was a trap."

_xX-Flashback-Xx_

_A stage was set up in town square. An small table was set up on it with a white sheet over it. In front of the stage was rows and rows of chairs, enough to seat the guest that were invited. Whos took their seats and others watched from the top of their homes. Ned, Sally, and JoJo took their place on the stage, while the 96 daughters sat down in the audience. They were given special directions and who was to be on stage and not. They questioned it, but was only answered by saying its what the inventor wants._

Four chairs were laid out for them to sit on including the inventor. All they knew about him was he was new and not a lot of Whos know him, but they were told that his new invention could change Whoville forever. When the mayor heard this, he decided it was fitting to have a ceremony for the invention and the inventor himself. After five minutes of waiting, a tan skin with blue shaggy hair Who walked up to the stage. He had a clipboard in his left hand and wore a white lab coar. The mayor and him met at the center and shook hands. The inventor headed to the table while Sally and JoJo walked up to Ned's side.

"Citizens of Whoville! I introduce you to one of the newest inventors here!", Ned announced, "Give a warm round of applause to Mr. Henry Smith." The blue hair Who walked back up to the Mayor. Camreas flashed as they shook hands again. Ned and his family walked back near the chairs to give him the floor.

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you a device, an invention, that is history in the making for Whoville.", Mr. Smith said, "I can tell you this, you will not believe your eyes. Here we go."

_**BANG! BANG!**_

_The audience screamed as they ducked their heads, police and ambulance sirens went off near by. Most of the daughters ran to their dad, who was lying on the floor. Sally laid Ned's head on her lap to act as a pillow and held his hand while JoJo held the other. Tears streamed down most of the family's face. They were the only one who wasn't running in fear. Blood started to form a puddle around his body._ _said.  
_  
"Sally, JoJo, girls, I don't have much time left.", Ned barely said, oblivously in pain.

"No, don't talk like that. The abulance is coming you're going to be ok.", Sally reassured him. He just smile at her and said.

"I don't think I can cheat death here. I just want to you all to that I love you."

"Dad...", JoJo choked out.

"JoJo, take care of the family. I know you can do it." JoJo looked around and notice a lot of people were still panicing, but then notice an abulance coming.

"Dad, just hold on a little more. They're coming. They're almost here."

"No matter what I love you." Ned's grip of JoJo's and Sally's hands loosened which caused them tighten their grip.

"No.", Sally whispered as she lowered her head as she sobbed. The daughters cried in their hands and tried to comfort each other. JoJo tried not to cry but tears ecsaped his eyes.

"We're here.", a doctor annonced.

'One minute too late.', JoJo thought to himself. A police went to a peek under the sheet that hid the invention that brought most of Whoville out to see. His eyes widened and took out a walkie-talkie.

"Get the bomb squad.", he spoke into it.

"Roger that.", a voice said on the other line. The policeman walked back to Sally and her family, heartbroken at the sight.

"Ma'am, we need you and your family needs to leave this area. Its not safe.", he informed them.

"No! I refuse to leave him.", Sally

"_Ma'am please. The doctors need to take the body." She slowly got up followed by JoJo and his sisters. They followed as a police directed them away to somewhere safe. As they left, a black van drove up to the stage. On the side of the van was big yellow letters that read,Bomb Squad. The McDodd family never looked back as they walked away, no matter how much they wanted to run back._

_xX-Flashback ends-Xx_

"We later found out that the bomb was probably a diversion as the shooter ran away. The scientist was no where to be found afterward. We just had the funeral just today.", JoJo said as he finished to story.

"That's why we're dress like this.", Tabby added

"Yeah, we don't usually dress this emo, at least not me and Zeke. Now Tabby and JoJo is another story."

"We do not dress emo!", she said defensively.

"We just like to wear black and dark colors.", JoJo added, "What is that a crime?"

"Not yet, its not.", Zeke said.

"We're very sorry for your lost.", Kangaroo said sympatric.

"Yeah, how's Sally doing?", Horton asked.

"She's ok, I guess. The main reason why she wanted me to come here is because someone is after me to kill me."

"What do you mean?"

"Ned wasn't really my dad. My real dad was Kevin Barker and he wants to kill me. This is what happened."

_**Back with Sally and May**_

_"Sadly, lets get to work."_

*~*~*~*~*~Ten Minutes Later*~*~*~*~

May has been working on the transporter as Kevin help a small pistol up to her head. He was making sure he won't get duped again. Both the girls tried to run earlier but failed when they found the door locked from the outside. Sally already had a plan in her head, as soon as he left, they needed to warn JoJo. That way he will come back and Kevin will be searching the jungle of Nool for a long time. She was thinking over her plan while staring out the window.

"So what have you been up to?", Sally asked, not really liking the dead silence of the room.

"What do you think? I've been stuck in that hell hole called the insane asylum. That is until I made a friend. He helped me escape and here I am!", Kevin answered, "It was simple really, getting weapons and making the perfect plan. I could have killed JoJo right after I shot Neddy, but I thought I should make a special plan for my son." His smile grew bigger as he thought over his plan. "Its going to be great."

"You are a cruel man.", she muttered under her breath.

"Being isoleted from sociaty can change a Who. Remember the scientist?"

"Yeah, what about it."

"He was the one who helped me escape. After his job was done, I found him useless, so I took care of him. I'm surprise the police hasn't found the decaying body yet. Oh, but you should have seen his face! Classic!", he laughed.

"Its almost done. _You crazy little fucker_.", May muttered the last part so he couldn't hear.

"Good now hurry up.", he said as he pressed the gun harder to her head.

"Just one more turn of the screw. There its done.", she said as she handed a similar device like JoJo's. "All ya got to do is make a selection, point at what you want to transport, and press the gray button." Kevin kept the gun at her head, looking over the invention. Once he made sure it looked fine, he lowered the gun and put it away in his pocket.

Without warning, he pushed the girls into a near by closet and shut the door. As he leaned on the door, preventing the girls from opening the door, he locked it. "Now, I want JoJo to be surprise when I see him, so I need to make sure you girls don't ruin the big surprise."

"Damn it, Kevin!", Sally yelled.

"You are going to pay for this, you little man whore!", May exclaimed.

"Blah, blah, blah. Say whatever you want. I don't give a crap. See ya doll face! I'll be back once my little job is done.", Kevin yelled as he pointed the antenna at himself and pressed the gray button.

_**Back with JoJo and Co.  
**_  
"Today we found that he got out and is now after me.", JoJo finished.

"Don't you worry JoJo, you and your cousins can stay with me.", Horton said, "I know this jungle like the back of my hand. So just in case, I know all the good places to hide."

"I'll help too. I'll tell all the other animals to look out for him, so we will have a heads up if he's here.", Kangaroo added.

"You seem to change since the whole speck thing.", JoJo commented.

"Yeah, she turned nicer and not as strict as before.", Horton said, "Come on, let me show you around." With that, JoJo grabbed his backpack off the floor and, with the help of the elephant, he got on Horton's back. Valerie, Tabby, and Zeke followed him and they disappeared into the forest with Kangaroo and Rudy hopping next to Horton.

**A/N: Ok, JoJo is now a dude again. You fangirls don't need to worry about cross dressing. I will update as soon as I can! I really hope you liked it! Until next time! Read and Review! :)**


	6. Solla Sollew

**A/N: Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Horton Hears a Who or its characters. I don't own the song that Tabby sings; it's from the Seussical so Dr. Seuss owns it. I do own my own character and my own plot.**

_JoJo grabbed his backpack off the floor and, with the help of the elephant, he got on Horton's back. Valerie, Tabby, and Zeke followed him and they disappeared into the forest with Kangaroo and Rudy hopping next to Horton._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kangaroo and Rudy was hopping in front of Horton, checking if it was safe to continue. On the way, they warned animals about Kevin and introduced JoJo to them. After ten minutes of walking around, a yellow puffball fell into JoJo's lap.

"Ahhh", it said as it turned its eyes went bug-eyed.

"Uh, Horton? What is that?", Valerie asked. He turned his head slightly to see what see was talking about.

"Oh, that's Katie.", he smiled, "She's one of the students I teach."

"Uh, hi. I'm JoJo.",

"I live in a world full of ponies who eat butterflies and poop rainbow.", Katie said as if it was perfectly normal.

"That's, uh, different."

"I live in a world full of unicorns and bunnies, but the bunnies are cutting themselves and the unicorns are acting all goth again.", Tabby said out of no where."

"And I thought Katie was weird.", Kangaroo whispered to Horton. Valerie then smacked Tabby upside the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for, you stupid wanker?!", Tabby hissed.

"Stop acting emo, biscuit!, Valerie said. During their little fight, Katie climbed up on top of JoJo's and jumped down into Valerie's lap. She stared down at the little yellow puffball as it settled into her lap.

"I think she likes you.", Tabby said.

"Great, the weird one has to pick me."

"I don't really see a problem there. You guys have a lot in common.", Zeke joked.

"You are lucky, I can't reach you."

"As if, you won't do anything. You threaten, but then later you forget completely."

"Shut it."

They walked around the Jungle of Nool until the sun started to set in the distance. Kangaroo and Rudy went their own way home and promised to tell them if they see anyone suspicious walking around. Horton took the group of four to a near by cave for shelter as rain started to drizzle down. As soon as they safely got inside, the rain got heavier. They put their few possessions together in a pile as they set up beds for to night. Valerie set up firewood they found in the cave and lit it up with her lighter. As soon as the fire was on, they saw they cave stretched farther than the light would go. They set leaves on the floor as bed while Horton used his truck to grab some fruit from the near by bushes. No one really said a word while they sat near the fire. One little sound would make their head jolt, everyone that is, except JoJo. Whenever there was noise he kept his gaze into the fire. Later, Horton fell asleep a few feet away from the fire, while Valerie, Tabby, and Zeke left JoJo alone.

"What do you thinks wrong with him?", Zeke asked, looking at JoJo, who was still gazing into the flames.

"Who knows? His mind is complicated sometimes.", Valerie said, leaning up against the wall of the cave.

"I feel bad on him, ya know? First his dad's gets killed and later he finds out his _real _dad is out to kill him. It must really suck.", Tabby said.

"You, guys know I can hear you from over here.", JoJo said loud enough for them to barely hear.

"Sorry.", Valerie called back to him, "Do you wanna come and talk about it over here? Talking about it will make you feel better, ya know?" He shook his head, stood up, and walked farther down the cave.

"Where are you going?", Zeke asked.

Without turning around, he answered, "I just need to think." He then continued on his way. Valerie again hit Tabby up side the head like last time, just harder, once their cousin was out of view.

"Ow! Bloody Hell, Val, what was that for again!?", Tabby complained.

"He's now more depressed because of what you said.", Valerie accused.

"Not everyone can be a great comforter like you!", she snapped back, getting annoyed, "Besides I can't help it if I say the wrong things."

"Do you think we should follow him, just to make sure he is ok.", Zeke interrupted, before the two girls start to fight.

"Nah, we should just let him be for now. He must have a lot on his mind.", Valerie said, before she got up. She stretched her arms until feeling returned back into them. "Well, I'm going to bed. Good night, guys."

"Same here."

"Me, too." Zeke stood up first and held out his hand for Tabby. She grabbed it and pulled herself up. She muttered a very quiet, "Thank you.", before she headed for her leaf bed.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~Midnight~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

Tabby woke up in a sudden jolt as she woke up from a nightmare. She couldn't remember everything that happened, all she knows was that Kevin found them and killed JoJo without a second thought. She looked to JoJo's bed and saw it was still empty. She looked to entrance of the cave and saw a small black figure sitting there. Tabby made a grabbed for her pocket knife as she approached it with caution. As she walked closer, the figure looked for familiar. She was for sure it was JoJo, so she tucked the knife into her hidden pocket and sat down next to him. He didn't seem to notice her as sat down. JoJo had his backpack to the left of him and had the small shotgun in his hands.

"Hey.", Tabby finally said, seeing he won't say anything first. He nodded his head, to say hello, and went back to staring out. "I might not be as good as a talker like Val, but I can listen if you want to say anything." Still no response from the little black and gray Who. "Ok, I know something is eating at you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Why would you think that?", JoJo said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Tabby ignored his tone and smiled, just glad to get a response from him.

"You have the gun out." JoJo looked down at said object and shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Are you worried he will find us?" She was again answered with a shrug.

"Not really."

"What about your mom?" He jolted up as if he forgot about his family back home. She smiled as she realized this must be what's worrying him. "You know, there's no need to worry, 'bout Aunt Sally. I mean she probably has police around the house and she has the family by her side, like Uncle Mevin. He can probably snap anyone into a twig. So I believe she's in good hands for now."

"No its not that.", he sighed looking at the ground, "I'm mainly worried about what I have to do if he tries to kill us."

"Use the gun, simple as that."

"I don't know if I can do it.", he admitted, "I mean, I know he wants to kill me, but he's still my dad. How would you feel if you had to kill your own father?"

"Confused."

"Exactly my point.

"When that moment, comes you'll know what to do." He sighed again and looked sad as if nothing happened.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!", she hissed.

"What?"

"Seriously, you're acting if nothing ever happened, like your dad didn't die.", she said, anger starting to build up.

"Are you sure you're not bipolar?", JoJo asked, seeing her mood changed quickly.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Why does every-.", she cut herself off and changed her tone back to how it was before, "Hey don't change the bloody subject! You're acting as if someone else died, not Uncle Ned. You're the last person I thought who wouldn't cry at the funeral."

"Not everyone cries at those, you know?"

"Well, everyone but you cried. Those who didn't even personally know him, were crying their eyes out. Even the priest had a tear go down his bloody cheek."

"Maybe, I didn't want to cry in public where everyone can see!", JoJo snapped, "They say when someone cries they show weakness. I don't want people to think their future mayor is weak and maybe I don't want to admit that my dad, the one that actually gave a damn about me, is gone. _Forever_!" Tears streamed down his cheek as he continued, "And my _real_ dad is out to freakin' get me! You know maybe if I wasn't born, my mom would actually happy life."

"Now do say that! You know it's not true." She pulled him into a hug before he could argue back as he sobbed hard into her shoulder. She rubbed his back, in a failed attempt for him to calm down.

"Shh. It's going to be alright. You still have me, Val, and Zeke. Not to mention the rest of the family that would do anything to protect you.", she cooed. She knew nothing that she could say, could calm him down. She started to hum a familiar tune, a tune every Who in Whoville learns when they are young. She sang softly, once she notices he started to calm down a little bit.

_They say breezes are warm there_

_And people are kind_

_Maybe it's something like Heaven_

_I close my eyes_

_And see in my mind_

_Skies of bluest blue_

_Solla Sollew_

_I've had so much trouble_

_Finding my way there_

_When I get close,_

_It disappears_

_If we can get there_

_We're gonna stay there_

_If it takes us miles_

_If it takes us years_

_H__igh on a mountain_

_Or lost on the sea_

_Sooner or later, I'll find it_

_I have a picture_

_Of how it will be _

_On the day I do_

_Troubles will be through_

_And I'll be home with you_

_Solla Sollew_

_Solla Sollew_

_Solla Sollew _

_  
Solla Sollew_

_  
Solla Sollew_

_  
Solla Sollew_

_  
Solla Sollew_

JoJo sang the last line with Tabby as she neared it

_I'll be home with you…._

He calmed down and pulled away. He also mouthed the words, thank you.

"Your welcome.", she whispered, "Remember Valerie, me, and Zeke are always there for you. 'Kay?"

"Yeah.", JoJo said barely over a whisper. They sat back in their old position before he asked in a childish tone, "Do you think he's there?"

"Who?"

"My dad, Uncle Ned?"

"Yeah, I believe he's there.", she answered, looking up to the skies, "I bet he's looking down at you right now, watching over you, in Solla Sollew. One day, you will see him again. I can guarantee it."

"Oddly, I suddenly feel sleepy.", JoJo yawned. He slipped the gun back into his bag and tossed it over his shoulder.

"I guess you got a lot off your chest I bet. You go on ahead; I'll go back to bed in a few minutes." He nodded his head and smiled sadly before he continued to his bed. Tabby stood in silence for a few minutes, looking at the stars.

"Why'd you have to go so soon, Uncle Ned?", she muttered, before she turned back to the cave where she saw Valerie watching her. "What?"

"Good job, Tabs.", Valerie said before going back to bed.

"Thanks.", she muttered back and headed back for her bed.

**A/N: Ok, I couldn't help but use that song.**** It's called Solla Sollew from the Seussical. I was supposed to add on another part, but this was getting to long so I decided to stop the chapter there for now. If anyone wants to see, I drew a picture of one of the scenes and posted it up on Deviantart. I have a link to my pictures on my profile. ****Until next time! Read and Review, but please no flames. I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter! Since school is started in just a few short days, I won't be updating as frequently, so check up every now and then.**** It's going to get good in the next few chapters!**


	7. Flightless Bird, American Mouth

A/N: Here is the latest installment of Within the Shadows! Well, it finally happened. I got my first bad review! Yay, firsts! But this won't discourage me and I will continue for those who actually enjoy this story and I thank you!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any of the characters. I do own Tabby, Valerie, Zeke, Kevin, May, and my own plots! Yay!!!**

**Me-Group hugs! -tackles characters in a hug-**

**Everyone- Can't.....Breath**

**JoJo-Glad I'm not you, **

**-After him!!!!**

**JoJo- Oh no. -Runs out of the room-**

**Me- Let him run. We'll get him later. I need to start the story.**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Blah, blah, blah. Say whatever you want. I don't give a crap. See ya later, doll face. I'll be back after my little job." Kevin pointed the device to himself and pressed the gray button.

~2 hours later~

May and Sally sat in the dimly lit closet. It was barely big enough for the two friends. Sally sat on a metal bucket, while May sat on small pile of jackets. The weakly lit light bulb swung a little bit in a back and forth motion.

"Do you have any idea how long we have been in here?", Sally asked.

"I have no effin' idea. I swear next time I see that man whore, there will be hell to pay."

"You're telling me."They tried earlier to get someone's attention to let them out, hoping someone could hear. Sadly, no one came to their rescue. Dr. Larue hasn't come back and they were starting to wonder what the hell was she doing.

"We seriously need to get out of here before my crazy psycho ex gets to JoJo." Sally spoke up after ten minutes of quiet.

"I know but how?"

"Why don't we try to kick the door open, like they do in movies?" she joked. That joke turned into an idea. They stood up and backed up until their backs touched the wall. "Ok, on the count of three."

" M'Kay."

"One. Two. Three!" They charged towards the door and crashed into it. They slowly slid down to the floor after the let out and quiet, "Ow." She rubbed her head to help numb the pain."Ok, that didn't work. All we have to do is hope Dr. Larue will come back soon." Sally said, rubbing her arms. She pushed herself against the wall, while May did the same on the opposite side."What did I ever see in him?" Sally muttered.

"He seemed like a nice guy until the whole ego Prego thing." May answered.

"Do you think this is my fault? I shouldn't have gone with him. I knew better. Why did I even go?"

"Cuz you thought he was your knight in shinning armor."

"Yeah, but he turned out to be a loser in tin foil. How could I be so stupid?!"

"You're not stupid. You were just blinded by love. That's perfectly understandable. That happens to many smart Whos. He chose that way to act." She squeezed next to Sally and wrapped her arms around her shoulder to cheer her up. "You know fate works in such weird ways."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if you never got pregnant, then you would have never hooked up with Ned. Wasn't your time with him the best?"

"I guess your right. Thanks, May."

"No problameo." May went back to her old seat and closed her eyes. Sally leaned her head back and closed her eyes as well. She started to relax when she notice May's face relaxed and her eyes closed. A snore soon left her friend's mouth, which made Sally smile.

'She hasn't changed one bit." She thought to herself. She reached up and turned off the dim light bulb. Sally could help, but let one lone tear escape her eyes. A small song started to form in her head that soon turned into a familiar song she would never

xX-Flashback-Xx

Sally was in a white flowing wedding dress, surrounded by a crowd of family members, both from her's and Ned's. She was holding her month old baby in her arms. Baby JoJo was asleep and in a small tuxedo.

"Awe! He's just so adorable." her new mother-in-law said softly, so she won't wake up the baby. Sally just smiled down at her son. She scanned the room for Ned and soon found him by the D.J. with May. She was going through some with him with a look of disappointment at each CD so far. Soon a smile formed the two friend's faces as soon as they found what they were looking for. May handed the disc to the D.J. before she and Ned walked way.

"Ok, its time for the newly weds first dance!" the D.J. exclaimed happily, "Where's the happy couple?" A spotlight landed on Sally and Ned. She stood up and handed JoJo over to May. Ned made his way over to her and guided her to the middle of the dance floor. It was almost like deja vu to her, reminding her of prom night and her dance Ned. Just as they got to the middle of the dance floor, the song started which piled onto her deja vu. It was the same exact song from prom night.

_I was a quick wet boy_

_Divine' too deep for coins_

_All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toy_

_Then when the cops closed the fair I cut my long baby hair_

_Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere_

_Have I found you?_

_Flightless bird, jealous, weeping, or lost you_

_American mouth_

_big pill looming…_

"Ned? Is this what I think this is?" Sally asked as they swayed to the music.

"Yes, I think so. I thought this song would be fit." Ned answered, "Since this was the song that we danced to when I was positive I was in love with you." He held her closer. She blushed a very deep shade of red when she heard him say that. He smiled as he quietly sang along with the course as it neared.

_Have I found you_

_Flightless bird, ground, bleeding or lost you_

_American mouth_

_Big pill stuck going down…._

Sally smiled, too, as he sang. A single tear of joy went down her cheek. Ned felt warm in her arms and the same went for him. This is the safest and happy in a long time."I love you." he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too." she whispered back, "Forever." They looked at each other's eyes before they kissed.

xX-Flashback ends-Xx

Sally looked at her empty and cold arms that once held Ned. She wrapped them around herself as tears flowed down her cheeks. All she has left are her happy memories that now haunt her. She doesn't want to believe that Ned is really gone, but that is one fact that she needs to face sooner or later. She quietly cry herself to sleep, in hope they will get out of the dark closet soon

Next morning~8:30 am

Dr. Larue unlocked her lab door and hung up her light brown coat on the coat rack near the door. She placed rolled up pieces of paper on to the lab table that was messier when she left it from yesterday.

"Couldn't they have cleaned up before they left." she muttered. She then made her way to the closet, which was locked. She cocked her head to the side before she dismissed her confusion. She unlocked it and found Sally and May sleeping inside. The two girls' eyes fluttered open as the light touched it."Um, is there a reason you two spent over night in a closet?" Dr. Larue asked the two. A smile formed on their face at the sight of freedom.

"Kevin locked us in here." May told her, "Where have you been?"

"Well after I checked over the experiment it was nearing midnight. When I came to check on you guys the door was locked and the lights were off. I thought you left already."

"We don't have time for that." Sally said as she stood up, "We need to warn JoJo. He's probably looking for him in the jungle of Nool. Can we make another transporter?"

"Possible. The thing is we might not have enough material."

"Then we need to find more materials!" May exclaimed, "I'll look around in other classrooms for them."

"I'll look for a pair of walkie-talkies.", Sally said."I'll stay in here and see what I can rummage up.", Dr. Larue said as she headed for the cabinet. Before they left to do their job, they turned back to each other.

"Good luck." the three girls said at the same time. They then spread out to do their jobs.

~30 minutes later~

Sally came back with a pair of green and black walkie-talkies. Dr. Larue was reading over the blue prints for the transporter."I finally found a pair that works." Sally said, "So how are we doing so far?"

"Ok, depending what May find around the university. Looking over my blue prints I think we can improvise on a few." Dr. Larue said, never looking up from the paper, "Sally, go and check if you can find a metal hanger in that closet." She waved her hand in the direction to said place. She walked over and in one glance, it seems as if all the hangers were wooden. Sally thoroughly looked at each hanger until she came across the lone metal hanger. She tried to pull the hanger off, but saw it was stuck on the rod.

"Hey, Mary, do you have any pliers." Sally asked as she tugged on the cold metal. She looked up from the paper, took out a pair of pliers, and handed it to Sally. She easily cut the metal hanger and mad a long metal rod. She tossed it on to the lab table when May walked in with a bunch of random items. She then dumped them on the table with a loud thud.

"I believe we can make a transporter from these." May said, "Can we?" Dr. Larue looked over the items and smiled.

"I believe we can.", she said as she took out a gray metal shell, "Lets get started."

"Let's just hope our warning doesn't come too late." Sally muttered.

"I wonder what they're up to?" May muttered as they started to build another transporter.

"Let's just hope they're ok."

_A/N: I hope you readers liked this chapter and don't worry JoJo will the next chapter for sure. So don't worry JoJo fan girls. Until next time! Read and Review! No flames please!_

_Those who do review you earn my personal thanks_! _By the way the song I use was Flightless Bird American Mouth by: Iron and Wine, hope you enjoyed it!_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: HELLO THERE! I'm actually updating this again. I was about to give up on this, but then I found out I had most of this chapter written after I found it deep, deep in my computer. So I thought, why not and just finish it. And here it is! Enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters and my plot.  
**  
JoJo, Tabby, Valerie, and Zeke were running down what looked like a very long hallway that led to a bright light. All that was heard was their heavy breathing and their footsteps echoing in the metal hall.

'What in the world are we running from?', JoJo thought to himself, glancing behind him.

"Come on!", Valerie yelled.

"How did this happened?!", Tabby yelled.

"Shut up and run!", Zeke ordered them. JoJo opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. They ran for what seemed like ten minutes and the bright light didn't seem closer. Just then a pair of dark arms wrapped around Zeke and pulled him into the darkness behind them.

"AHH!", he screamed, disappearing in the shadows behind them. The light suddenly became closer. JoJo wanted to run back and save his cousin, but it was as if his legs had a mind of their own as they kept running towards the light. They ran for five minutes and the light was still the same distance it was earlier. Just then the same dark arms grabbed Valerie from the side and pulled her into a wall where she disappeared.

"What the-!?", she screamed as she was being pulled. The light seemed only a few feet away now. After a minute, the dark arms grabbed Tabby's legs as it pulled her down to the ground.

"Run, JoJo!", she yelled as she fell into the floor as if it was water. The light was only a feet away from him. He dove into it before the shadow-like hands barely grabbed his foot. He slid onto the cold metal floor before he opened his eyes. He was now in the observatory with the roof opened. A single blinding spotlight fell on him as another one shown in front of him. Kevin stood in the second spotlight with Zeke, Valerie, and Tabby blindfolded and tied up in front of him. In front of each of them was a weapon. Zeke had a silver pistol, Tabby had her trusty poket knife, while Valerie had a worn out rope. JoJo looked down at his hand and saw the silver pistol his mom had given him.

"Come on, JoJo, what are you waiting for?", Kevin taunted him with a smirk, motioning his hands to himself, "Shoot me." JoJo stood there paralyzed with fear, his hands shaking, and his finger hesitates to pull the trigger.

"Maybe you need more convincing?" Kevin grabbed the rope that was in front Valerie and wrapped it around her neck. He held the two ends and tugged on it, making her wheeze for air.

"JoJo, you suck..... If you don't.... save me...... shoot him!", Valerie pleaded in between tugs. JoJo lifted the gun and pointed it at Kevin. His finger wouldn't pull the trigger. It was as if it was stuck.

"Ok, then. If you won't shoot," He wrapped the ends of the rope on his hand and tugged on it harder. Valerie's face went pale of any color before she fell limp on the floor. He let go of the rope and let it fall wherever on the lifeless body.

"Next victim!", he exclaimed happily as he grabbed the knife in front of Tabby. He pulled her off the floor by her hair and held the knife close to her throat. One flick of the wrist and he could easily kill her. "Come on, JoJo, save your cousin. Shoot me.", he said calmly.

"Please, help me.", Tabby begged as she felt the cold metal on her neck. Her voice was obviously sounded shaky and scared.

"Let her go!", JoJo ordered Kevin.

"Only if you shoot me, go on, you have the gun. I'll give you five seconds." No matter how hard he tried, the trigger wouldn't move.

"Five…. Four…. Three….. Two….", the crazy who counted in a whisper as JoJo struggled with the trigger, "One!"

"JoJo!", Tabby yelled desperately before Kevin, with the slightest bit of movement, slit her neck. Blood poured down her neck as she fell limp on the ground; a pool of crimson red forming around her.

"No.", JoJo muttered in disbelief. He struggled again to move, finding as if he was glued to the floor.

"Last, but not least!", Kevin cheered happily as he picked the silver gun. He held it at the back of Zeke's neck.

"What are you waiting for?", Zeke yelled angrily, "Shoot him already!"

"Shoot him! Shoot him!", people chanted out of nowhere. He looked up towards the chants and saw most of Whoville, sitting on his musical inventions, watching as if this was a show.

"Come on! Put on a show, make the crowd happy!", Kevin laughed as he pressed the gun harder on Zeke's neck. JoJo closed his eyes shut, with all his might, pulled the trigger.

_Bang!  
_  
Smoke came out of his gun. He opened his eyes and looked up and saw he shot the wall behind Kevin, barely missing his head.

"Oh, bad aim. Let me show you how it's done.", Kevin said with a creepy smile.

_Bang!_

Zeke fell limp on the ground and landed on his stomach; blood oozing out of the back of his neck, forming a puddle mixing with Tabby's blood. JoJo fell to his knees, almost throwing up at the gut retching scene. He stood up and glared at Kevin while pointed the gun at him. He took out a similar gun and pointed it back as if it was nothing.

"Come on, son. Give me your best shot!"

"You son of a-!", JoJo yelled back, but was cut off by him.

"Say hello to Ned for me." Kevin pulled back the trigger.

_Bang!_

JoJo fell back from the impact. His body became numb as he felt warm liquid flowed down. The last thing he heard was the cruel laughter coming from Kevin before he blacked out.

"JoJo?"

"JoJo! Wake up!"

"AHH!", JoJo screamed, jolting up. He woke up with Valerie violently shaking him. She stopped when she realized his eyes were opened. Her, Tabby, and Zeke surrounded him and stared with worried eyes. Scenes from his horrible nightmare flood back to his head, the innocent blood on the metal floor, the ringing of the gunshots, and his real dad's cruel laughter. He stood up while covering his mouth and ran as far as he could before he puked. His cousins heard the retching coming from the black and gray Who and ran to his aid. They fell to their knees and comfort him as much as possible. Valerie rubbed his back, trying to calm him down. Zeke and Tabby watched with sad eyes, wondering what kind of dream he had that would make him like this. Tabby felt his forehead which felt warm to the touch.

"Zeke, get a wet rag and some water for JoJo, please.", she ordered, waving her hand toward the jungle. He nodded a yes and went to the river nearby. Once he stopped puking, JoJo staggered to a nearby wall with his back onto it and his eyes closed. His breathing was heavy and sweat beaded down his forehead.

"Good God, JoJo, what in the world happened?", Tabby asked as she made her way over to him.

"I-I had a dream, more like a nightmare.", JoJo answered in a whisper, "Kevin found us and killed you guys before he killed me. The worst part is that I couldn't do a thing to protect you guys. It was horrible." Zeke ran back to them with a wet rag and a small bucket with water. Valerie tilted his head back to help him drink the water while Tabby dabbed his forehead with the wet rag and cleaned his face. He began to whimper, remembering how scary it was. He thought it was real and not a dream. It felt too real to him.

"Shhh. It was just a nightmare.", Valerie cooed, wiping up around his mouth, "It didn't really happen. We're still here." She put her hand back to his forehead and felt it cooled down.

"Wh-where's Horton?", he asked once he noticed the elephant was nowhere in sight.

"He had to teach his class.", Valerie said, placing her hands in her lap.

"He told us to meet up with him by the river when you wake up.", Zeke added, "We can go and meet up when you are feeling better, ok?" JoJo nodded a yes and tried to stand back up, but quickly fell back down. His arms and legs felt weak under pressure.

'How can a dream like this do this to me?', he thought to himself. He sat there and thought up an answer himself, 'Because it can actually happen.'

"We'll leave you to rest.", Tabby said, getting up off the floor. JoJo nodded and closed his eyes. Tabby, Zeke, and Valerie walked to the entrance of the cave, the cool breeze slightly hitting them.

"Poor JoJo.", Valerie said, after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah, it must have been such an awful dream to make him like that.", Tabby added, "Do you really think he would do that?"

"Who?", Zeke asked, leaning himself against the wall.

"Kevin. Do you think he would actually do what he did in JoJo's dream?"

"Who knows what goes on in that crazy psycho's mind.", Valerie answered, staring out at the vast jungle.

"I'll be right back." Tabby took a step out into the sunlight before both her cousins placed a hand on her shoulders to stop her. She turned to face them

"I really don't think it's safe out there.", Zeke said, looking at her with sad eyes, practically begging her not to go.

"Puh-lease! Kevin is probably still in Whoville, hiding." She shrugged of the pair of hands and stepped forward again.

"We don't know that.", Valerie retorted, putting her hands on her hips, giving her the best stern glare she could give. She was secretly trying to hide the fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry about me. The river is just nearby; beside I think he needs you guys more than me." She was referring to the sleeping JoJo that was still propped against the wall, "Besides I got my pocket knife," she tapped the pocket that held said object, "I'll be just fine."

Before anyone can say anything else, Tabby walked casually into the mess of colorful trees. The sound of water was growing louder as she came closer. Once she reached her destination, she fell to her knees and splashed water on her face to cool off, enjoying the cool water on her hands.

"Having fun?", a voice asked from behind. She jolted back up and turned around to the voice.

"Wh-whose there?", she asked, shakily while putting one of her hands in the pocket where the knife was. Sounds of leaves getting crunched were made as the unknown figure moved around. Tabby's eyes darted as it followed the sound.

"Come on out!", she ordered, trying hard not to show fear. The wobbling of her legs gave away the fear, though. She tried to stop it, but her legs wouldn't listen.

"Why should I?", the voice asked, coming from above in the trees.

"If this is a some sorta joke, it's not funny anymore, Val or Zeke.", Tabby said, trying to convince herself this is just a prank.

"Guess again.", it sang happily, enjoying the fear in her voice. Movement was heard as he headed behind her, following the sound to make sure where it was. Now she had a good idea how it was, but she was hoping desperately she was wrong.

"Let me guess. You are a heartless Who that killed the mayor and now you're after your own son.", Tabby answered, hoping the response was a 'I don't know what you're talking about' or something along those lines, then whispered shakily, "K-kevin Barker?"

The shadowy figure stepped out from the bushes. It was a Who, wearing a straightjacket that wasn't locked and was stained with mud in some places. The black and white striped pants had small rips near the knees. He had black shaggy hair that was messy with tangles and small amount of mud.

"Your smarter than you look, doll face.", he answered with a smile, moving a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"Do you hear that?", Valerie asked to Zeke, who was leaning against the cave wall. She was in the middle of getting off the floor when she heard a strange noise that was gradually getting louder. He looked up from the ground and followed his cousin's gaze. After a few seconds, they saw Tabby running full speed at them, taking short glances behind her as if someone was following her. She ran pass them, not even acknowledging that they were there, and searched frantically for JoJo's backpack. Valerie was going to ask what was going on, but her cousin interrupted her.

"Don't ask anything. We g-got to get out of here!", Tabby said, looking behind a rock, "Get JoJo, we're going back to Whoville."

"What?!", her two cousins and JoJo exclaimed in disbelief. JoJo stood up, not feeling as weak as before and walked over to join the conversation.

"We can't! Remember, Kevin is still on the loose.", Valerie said in disbelief, getting the urge to slap some sense into her. She wasn't really listening as searched for the bag, finally finding it against the wall.

"Yeah, but he's not in Whoville anymore.", Tabby retorted, searching in JoJo's gray backpack for the transporter.

"How do you know?", Zeke asked, crossing his arms. Before she got to answer, the four Whos heard a strange static-buzzing coming from deeper into the cave. They made their way toward the sound, bracing to find the worse. Behind a large, jagged rock was a black and green walkie-talkie.

"Hello?", a voice asked from the walkie-talkie. The voice was a little blurred by static but they soon recognized it to Sally.

"Mom!", JoJo exclaimed, picking up the device and pushing a button.

"JoJo?" Even though they couldn't see each other, he nodded as if she could. "Thank God! You're still safe! You got to get out of there and quick."

"Why? What's going on?", he asked, frantically. Tabby excused herself from the conversation and made her way back to the gray backpack to get the transporter. All of their backs were facing the mouth of the cave, so they didn't know they had a visitor join them. The stranger's shadow stretched into the cave where the sunlight reached. The next sentence that was said made everyone's heart skip a beat.

"Hi there, son."

**A/N: And I'm going to leave as that for now. Hope this chapter was good and really sorry for the really long wait for the update. I was working on my Toy Story fanfic a lot and I had a writer block for this one. I'll try and update faster. Until next time! Read and Review :D! Tell me what you think! **


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